Sign Of Progress

July 13, 1986

Progress. Many hate the word for the images it creates: the traffic congestion, the proliferation of parking lots, the open concrete sprawl swept bare of trees. Still, progress is not always such a bad thing. Just look at Kissimmee's power plant.

That was a message at Friday's first luncheon of retired Kissimmee mayors and commissioners. As these officials traded war stories, one subject kept coming up -- that power plant.

The plant exemplifies Osceola County's battles with progress, the tendency of so many to stand back and not deal with the problems of a growing county, but instead to wait until progress and growth become overwhelming.

Forty years ago, city officials summoned the courage to get that power plant going. The city's the better for it today. That plant also can be a strong example to city and county leaders trying to wrestle with growth -- progress does not come easily or without tough decisions. It does not come without vision.

The power plant debate began in the 1940s. Should the city buy more power? Should it produce its own power supply?

As the years went by, there were continued battles in city hall over the cost of generators. When equipment broke down, the complaints flew thick and fast.

Design problems, parts installed upside down, a cracked this, a faulty that. There were interminable tests and more reports and more debates.

Then there was the plant's noise -- a rambunctious rumbling that seemed ready to vibrate residents from their beds at night.

Today all those trials seem centuries old. The plant now ticks along, keeping the lights aglow. It is doing such a good job that there even is a move afoot to lower commercial rates.

And to think that this plant was once a threat to a city commissioner or mayor's re-election. All over such things as watts, ohms and volts.

Progress always comes, as the power plant promoters knew. The question is whether people are ready and willing to react.